Different_Name_111!!!

Good luck! I think initial offers are out for Lehigh prospectives.

Who'd you apply to work with at Lehigh?

@sjoh197 Oh wow! That sounds like it's going to be a fantastic trip! Lucky! I hope you get funded at UH, lame that you haven't heard about funding yet - - hopefully your PI is getting late funding and you'll be covered.

Yes! I'm hiking for fun twice a week in the Cascades until I move for grad school. The two hikes I am most excited about: Kendall Katwalk Trail and Mailbox Peak (: Are you prepping for field work or a fun trip @sjoh197?

I agree with @sjoh197- views like that are all over the place in the Seattle region, it's fantastic. The weather is eight months of overcast with negligible/annoying light rain and four months of open sky & stunning beauty. A lot of people are into snow sports around here, but again = $$. The public transit is great compared to other US cities. The light rail is opening a station in the U-district next weekend that can take passengers to the airport. I usually take a bus + light rail to the airport instead of a taxi (will save about $50, but also takes longer). IMO $30k is closer to famine in Seattle, but better than many other UW grad students are getting. I know you said your gf may be following, but I'd recommend a roommate(s) in the interim to help with rental costs if you choose UW. Crime rates are supposedly high in the U-dist, but I never had a problem anywhere in the city. If you move to Seattle, I'd live on the east side of I5 to ensure a reasonable transit time to UW. Captiol Hill is an amazing place to live (use of needle drugs on the street is a common sight though), but I got priced out of my 700 sq ft one bedroom apartment 3 years ago ($1600, no utilities or fees included). I ended up moving north of campus, which wasn't as fun, and cost $1400 for a decent sized one bedroom apartment. I've enjoyed my 7 years here, but I'm also very ready to move to a place with a lower cost of living so I can afford to do fun things on a regular basis. Or you know, have an unknown relative with amazing riches kick the bucket and will their fortune to me.... But If I had a tech job, you'd hear nothing but PNW sonnets from me.

I believe UW has an artic science consortium - everyone seems to be well funded. It seems like you have everything covered very well in your bullet points. Seattle is a great city to live in, but IMO, it's a feast or famine city. On typical UW grad student stipends (~$21k), you'll miss out on a lot that the city has to offer (restaurants / night life). The fantastic thing about being poor in this area is that there are a ton of outdoor activities. A 45 minute drive will drop you at many fantastic Cascade trailheads. UW has a "ride in the rain" contest every winter to see which team can rack up the most mileage bike riding to school/work. Great kayaking and rock climbing in the area & I'm sure locals would be willing to share/help with gear. I don't know anything about Boulder - good luck!

Thank you so much! Lehigh was my #1 choice, so I'm very excited. (: Yes. R1 institutions. This friend isn't [currently] pursuing O&G, so I don't think there was overlapping program selection between you two. Luck has nothing to do with getting inundated with funded offers. If you think that story is ridiculous: Another friend didn't apply anywhere and was offered a five year research stipend. Said friend will begin graduate work this coming fall. Also not my only friend who got into grad school this way, but she's the only one who got the full five year funding (others got two initially). Correct. Seasoned liberally with genuine enthusiasm, sprinkled with academic connections = recipe for success.

@jader I have a friend who received a funded offer from UC Davis for structural geology - it might be a different POI though. I will say this friend received ~9 or 10 offers and hasn't made a decision yet. There's still time to hear back from schools everyone!

@magnetite I only know my friend was accepted by UC Davis & ASU before 2/11/16. I'm not sure when ASU scheduled their open house. My friend applied to an insane number of programs and has been accepted/invited out by all of them except Berkeley (I think it was Berkeley). Since he can only accept one offer, a spot at ~10 other programs will (potentially) open up after he makes his decision. He still has multiple schools to visit. @CornUltimatum My opinion: I'd only send out an email inquiring about admission status if I needed to know or if I was really chummy with my POI.

@zerozircon I have a friend who was accepted to Arizona State. A few years ago, I have a different friend who got accepted at the University of Arizona - from what I recall, the acceptances rolled out a little later than most other schools. For those who still want updates on UW-Seattle ESS: the department invited 15 people to visit the campus, and all applicants accepted the invitation. I was told that it's the first time everyone has accepted the invitation in many years. I was also told even if all of those students enroll, more offers will roll out, so keep your head up if you're still interested! If you were rejected before today from UW ESS, your statement of purpose needs a lot of work (based on what I understand, please contact your POI for a solid answer on rejections). For structure/geomorph people: I was told there were over 35 applicants in this pool. One last thing: don't underestimate the importance of contacting your POI before applications are reviewed, ideally you'll be able to write about it in your statement of purpose.

It sounds like you could easily land an environmental consultant job since you've had an internship. If you're not interested in environmental consulting, how would the second bachelors degree benefit you? If you plan on going to grad school, just take/finish the pre-recs and reapply for grad school for Fall 2017.

Important things to think about: Where did your POIs graduate students work after graduation? What about the department as a whole, where did graduate students work after graduation? Department choice is very important here, i.e. some departments don't have recruiters visit. O&G is cyclical, and is in very rough shape right now, if you could predict a recovery date, you'd be very wealthy. I know a recruiter for a major oil company; this person told me they only took 3 geology interns last year (out of hundreds of grad student applications) and I think offers were only made to 1 or 2 at the end of the summer. Mining is also in terrible shape.

@Miner 49er Sorry, I should have been clearer. I was talking about the Earth and Space Science (ESS) department, not Atmospheric Sciences (They're separate departments in technically adjacent buildings). I know ESS rolls out offers as students decline admittance and additional funding is confirmed or becomes available. I don't have any information about the Atmospheric Science department. Good luck 49er, I hope you hear good news!

For those wondering, I was just told UW-Seattle PIs with guaranteed funding sent out their first round acceptances this week. (Read: mostly glacier/climate people). Offers will continue to roll out through April 14.

@gingin6789 Yes! I'll be with the Earth Science people. This is very exciting news to hear, thank you so much! Thanks for recommending places to eat too, I'm excited to try out the regional food. I've always wanted some real-deal dutch pretzels! I'm slightly concerned about the tap water quality, but I guess I'll find out when I visit in early March!

"Yay! I recently got accepted to Lehigh - let's check to see if there's information about Bethlehem." "Ugh." "Shit." Wow! This is excellent news, I'd love to stay car-free. What's the public transportation situation? Where exactly is south Bethlehem? Is it just south of the river around the Lehigh University area? Reading online, the population density seems all over the place because there are several cities/towns really close to together. I looked at Allentown and noticed there were two colleges there as well! Should I be concerned about my SO finding a job outside of academia in this area? Another concern. I read that there was about 30" of snowfall there last month. Is this typical weather for Bethlehem? I'm visiting the first weekend of March, will there be snow then? I also read it's very humid in the summer - the buildings are cooled, right? I only ask because I know there must be some old buildings on campus...

My Lehigh POI just emailed me with a financial aid offer as well as an invitation to fly out in March for the 'annual graduate student seminar.' I am freaking out over here and I'm absolutely thrilled since the research I'd be working on IS SO FREAKING EXCITING!!!!! The POI says everything will be made official next wednesday; I couldn't be more ecstatic! Sidenote: Everyone is super cool here, thanks for the kind words and support everyone!

DUDE, thanks for your input from both of your experiences. I'm still going to read that email through rose colored glasses; that's the outlook I choose to have. I was told Lehigh will roll down financial aid packages to make second offers should first round students decline. I'm #2 on the wait list - so I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

Do you mind sharing statistics? I totally believe you; I just don't have many connections who've gone to smaller R2 institutions. Based on WHOI's 2015 statistics, UW and WHOI accept a similar number of graduate students annually. You're correct, WHOI's graduate enrollment rate was about 71% in 2015.

@gelologist I'm not too torn up about being on the wait list; I could be farther down that list! I looked at the statistics and found a high number of graduate students accepted into programs decline enrollment because they had better offers or preferences elsewhere. For the last 10 years UW's graduate enrollment rates have ranged 31-76%, and UT hovers around 50-70%. Many financial aid packages can be reassigned as students decline enrollment, so my hopes are high. I was tempted to ask my Lehigh POI about stats, but I decided to play it cool since he's been phenomenal about keeping in touch with me. Thanks for the kind words about applying for MS programs. I essentially decided it was the "right thing to do." I didn't want to enroll in a PhD with intentions of skipping town after the masters since I know it can wreck project funding or bump a real PhD applicant who has their sights set on that doctoral degree. Sidenote: I have a friend who's beginning her PhD in Providence in Fall '16! I've heard some fantastic things about the program there.

I received word from my POI at Lehigh. If 2/10 students decline financial aid offers, I will be offered aid and admission. Students have until April 15 to consider their offers, so I might be in the waiting pool for a while. I was told half of the offers prioritized PhD applicants. I'm semi kicking myself for submitting MS applications everywhere, but that's where my heart is.

I went to an independent campus visit. My POI took me to his rock lab and grilled me for about an hour. He asked me to identify several rocks as well as their constituent minerals, asked me if I knew how to use a variety of machinery in another lab, and asked me to explain the structural evolution of two different rocks in his office. He didn't expect me to know most of the answers; he was testing me to see how I responded under pressure (confirmed by my BIL who earned a PhD from Dr. X). I agree with @gelologist that professionalism is important, but that doesn't mean you should be meek and forgettable - profs are people too. Don't be afraid to joke around or be yourself, depending on the circumstances, it could make you a very memorable (and desirable) candidate.

@columbia09 You contacted 10 POIs at UT, but you didn't write about all of them in your personal statement, correct? From my perspective, it looks like you might be having issues with your GRE scores (I saw them posted in the '15 thread), your statement of purpose, and possibly boundary restraint. This year, I'd try to hold off on repeatedly contacting your POIs, the department heads, and admissions committees. If you haven't heard anything by April, then send short but courteous emails to your POIs (assuming you were in contact with them before you applied). Maybe you'll get in this cycle, but if you don't, I have a couple of suggestions: volunteer time in a lab at your old school and begin a research project to help you narrow your potential research focus while simultaneously studying the dickens out of the GRE. Read journal articles. Take the GRE in September and contact POIs that fit a narrower range of interests. Let them know you've been working on X project and ask how you can apply some of what you've learned to the projects they're working on.... Write a bitchin' statement of purpose relating everything you've done to what you want to do with professor X. If your scores didn't turn out for the 4th time after serious studying, I wouldn't bother taking them again and just hope for the best. Ask previous professors for feedback on your SOP, unless they said your statement last year looked good - then you know you're on your own.

@GeoMex definitely!

Yeah, im going to agree with everyone here regarding the UT message - we can only speculate haha ...time for another jog! I totally recommend running to anyone compulsively refreshing their application status.